INTERVIEWS

Travellers have been part of Irish life for centuries, long before the Great Famine, although it’s only in recent years that they have been formally recognised as a distinct ethnic group within the Irish state. Traditionally nomadic, working and trading and camping in barrel top wagons alongside the road, an […]

Bere islander Gerald Orpen, 86, spent his working life at sea until the recession hit Ireland in the 1980s and he packed his bag and headed to New York to find work on a construction site. While the island was a wonderful place to raise a family, it wasn’t an […]

There isn’t a whisper of a West Cork accent in Dave Scully’s voice, as he serves up his famous sirloin steak burgers over the counter to a regular. “Howya love” and “Janey Mac” are common refrains as customers spill into the butcher shop on Pearse Street in Clonakilty. “I’ll change […]

A familiar character around town and still on the shop floor, known for his friendly, if occasionally gruff nature, Christy Thornhill, 76, is possibly most famous for being one of the first rowers in Skibbereen after he was captured on camera in the fifties taking a trip down the llen […]

“It’s like having one big ward,” laughs nurse Catherine O’Sullivan, as she describes her role as an island nurse. It’s much more than that however, as Catherine is something to everyone on Bere Island on the Beara peninsula, from offering support and advice to the mother of the week-old baby […]